


The Double Shift

by CongratulationsBaby



Series: Australia's Prize Catch [2]
Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CongratulationsBaby/pseuds/CongratulationsBaby
Summary: Set a week after 'Behind The Cameras' in same A/U where Franky is a contestant of a reality TV show and Bridget is the Production Assistant assigned to her.Bridget gives Bea some romantic advice and is rewarded with some alone time with Franky by the pool.
Relationships: Franky Doyle/Bridget Westfall
Series: Australia's Prize Catch [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1832278
Comments: 12
Kudos: 46





	The Double Shift

**Author's Note:**

> A/N
> 
> I had a free evening and so spent it on another one-shot, set a week after my initial story 'Behind The Cameras'.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy it, glad to see my first story was received positively! Where I have time, I'll keep coming out with one-shots in this AU, or maybe turn it into a multi-chapter, we'll see.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Wentworth or any of the characters.

**The Double Shift**

Bridget groaned as she took another sip of her lukewarm coffee. She should have gone home three hours ago, when Matthew Fletcher was meant to have taken over. He was the production assistant that usually took the night shift, as well as the trickier contestants. He was better equipped at handling the ones who were… fiery to say the least.

However, Matt had called in sick and Bridget agreed to the double shift at Vera’s behest. She couldn’t complain really, she was hardly paid an Executive salary, and so another shift meant a few nicer bottles of wine on her nights in.

She wandered the kitchen aimlessly, scribbling notes down on her notepad every so often for the next day’s Hot Seat interviews. The contestants usually ran with the initial questions, but Bridget found that it was always handy to have some prompts to keep them talking. This week, they had been ice skating as a group and tempers had reached boiling point, resulting in an on-ice fight between Will Jackson and Jake Stewart. Jake’s bloody nose and broken wrist (courtesy of both Will and Kaz Proctor who had leapt to Will’s defence) made for dramatic television and high ratings.

The Hot Seat interviews would no doubt revolve around that, as well as the upcoming Elimination.

“Miss Westfall?”

A raspy voice broke Bridget’s thoughts and she turned around quickly to find Bea Smith standing in the kitchen doorway. Bridget was not really meant to be hanging around the contestant mansion unless she was directing the filming or speaking to a contestant, but she had spent hours in the production suite and desperately needed caffeine.

“Bea,” Bridget smiled warmly, “I’ve told you before, call me Bridget.”

“Okay, Mi- uh, Bridget,” Bea smiled tentatively in response and moved further in to the kitchen, “I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?”

“Is it regarding filming? If so, you should really be talking to your assigned production assistant, Linda-“

“-No, i-it’s not about filming.”

Bridget remained silent, waiting for Bea to broach the subject she clearly wanted to talk to her about. There was a certain tension in the red-haired woman, her shoulders were set and her face showed signs of strain.

“Do you want to sit down, Bea?”

Bea nodded quickly and they both moved to the stools at the island counter, sitting down and swivelling to face each other.

“How can I help?” Bridget prompted gently. This seemed to do the trick as she saw Bea’s shoulders slump fractionally.

“You… you like women right?”

Bridget tried to keep her features blank, but a bolt of panic shot through her. Did she suspect something about her and Franky? They’d only kissed the one time in the hair and make-up room, how could she-?

“What do you mean, Bea?” She asked steadily, hoping that they hadn’t been caught out so soon. Her career would certainly be over.

“I mean… _romantically_ you prefer women, yeah?”

“If you’re asking whether I am a lesbian, then yes. I am.” _Play it safe, Bridget. She hasn’t mentioned Franky yet._

“How did you know?”

“That I was a lesbian?”

“Yeah,” Bea’s eyes darted all over the kitchen, the young woman was clearly uncomfortable.

“Well,” Bridget thought out her response, trying to formulate an answer that would help Bea, “I dated a few men in my twenties, but there was always something _missing._ I then dated a woman and realised very quickly that I preferred that. Attraction is always the first sign I guess, but it’s also more than that. I found a connection with that woman that I never got from any of the men I dated. It felt _right._ ”

“So, if I… liked a woman, y’know, _romantically,_ does that make me… bisexual, or-?”

“-Bea,” Bridget reached out and took Bea’s hand, forcing the redhead to look at her, “It doesn’t matter what you call yourself. If you like someone, then _fuck_ the labels and explore it, yeah?”

For the first time in their conversation, Bea offered a small smile and Bridget watched as the weight was finally lifted from her shoulders. The younger woman’s eyes seemed to sparkle, her smile getting wider.

“ _Thank you,_ ” she breathed, squeezing Bridget’s hand, “I think that’s what I needed to hear.”

“You’re welcome,” Bridget smiled, slowly getting up from the stool, “now, I have dragged my feet for too long in here, Vera will kill me if I spend my entire shift in the mansion.”

She winked at Bea, who got up and made to head out of the kitchen.

“Oh and Bea?” Bea turned around to look at Bridget, “Allie is a lucky girl.”

Bea blushed a bright red, but her grin remained in place.

“H-how did you know?”

“It’s my job,” Bridget smiled, “but if this is the real thing, don’t let the ratings dictate the pace, okay? What you and Allie have… it’s too special to be used as a tool for drama, no matter what Linda or Vera tell you.”

“Thanks, Bridget,” Bea responded warmly, “and the same goes to you.”

“Hmm?” Bridget startled, the panic flooding through her again.

“I’ve seen the way you and Franky look at each other when the cameras aren’t rolling,” Bea admitted, shrugging, “don’t worry, no-one will hear it from me… but same goes to you. Don’t let the show tell you what’s right.”

“I-I can’t… nothing has happened between Franky and I, we-“

“-I don’t care,” Bea interrupted Bridget’s rambling, “like I said, your secret is safe with me. While I’m here, you should probably know that at 10 every evening, Franky usually heads to the swimming pool for a nightly swim. Always alone. She’s pretty routine like that, yeah?”

Bea winked and left the kitchen, abandoning Bridget to her now cold coffee and impure thoughts about Franky.

****

Bridget watched from behind one of the pillars as Franky flipped in the water, propelling herself from the side for another lap of the cold water.

Just as Bea had hinted, Franky had dropped her towel on one of the sunbeds at 10pm on the dot, before gracefully leaping in to the water for an evening swim.

Alone.

All the other contestants could be heard on the upper levels of the mansion, music playing and their voices carrying out the windows as they passed round bottles of vodka and whiskey.

Bridget felt like a lurker, just standing in the shadows and admiring the fine form of the tattooed brunette in her bikini. In the moonlight, she could see the faint scars that littered her torso, courtesy of Franky’s drunk and abusive mother. It was one of her first Hot Seat interviews with Franky, one that she would never forget and certainly one that would never air. Bridget deleted the recording soon after the brunette had told her, finding that she could not bear to allow the public to know something so private, to judge Franky in _any way._ It was around that time that Bridget perhaps knew she was in too deep with the contestant.

If Franky knew that Bridget was responsible for keeping the recording from Vera’s grasp, she never mentioned it.

“You gonna stand there all night in the shadows, Gidge, or are you gonna come and join me?”

Bridget’s breath caught, her hand coming up to her chest as her thoughts were pulled back to the present.

_Caught._

Franky grinned, water droplets tracking down from her hair as she rested her chin on her arms at the side of the pool. Though her upper body was still, her legs were kicking leisurely beneath her, keeping her afloat.

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t drown,” Bridget caught herself saying.

“Well, much appreciated. Fletch certainly doesn’t show as much concern… or _interest._ ”

Franky’s tongue ran across her teeth as she smiled knowingly.

“I assume Red is behind this little night-time tête-a-tête?”

“She told me where I might find you at this time, yes,” Bridget moved toward the side of the pool, just out of reach of Franky. She crossed her arms protectively.

“Cheeky. Remind me to thank her.”

“Franky, if she suspects _anything_ -“

“Calm yourself, Gidge. Red’s one of the good ones, we’re pretty tight, yeah? She won’t say a thing.”

“Okay,” Bridget sighed, trusting Franky to know best.

“Besides,” Franky added cheekily, “I’ve been giving her some _great_ tips on sex.”

Bridget’s breath caught once again, but this time not in shock of being discovered. She felt a pull as images flooded her mind, scenarios of Franky knowing _exactly_ what tips to give.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yup,” Franky grinned, knowing what she was doing to Bridget, “fingers _and_ tongue, you know? Figured she needed a bit of help with Allie.”

“Franky…” Bridget warned her, feeling a flush creep up her neck as she felt the phantom pull of Franky’s lips on hers a week ago.

“Filthy thoughts there, Gidge?” Franky disengaged from the side of the pool, and propelled herself back towards the centre of the pool, “maybe you should jump in and cool yourself down?”

“I didn’t bring a swimming costume,” Bridget laughed shakily, glad to have a break from the conversation.

“Skinny dipping it is then!”

“You’re incorrigible, you know that right?”

“I prefer the term ‘determined’ actually.”

“Well, I need to head back to the suite before I’m caught out here so it’ll be a rain check I’m afraid.” Bridget took a step backwards, reluctant but ready to head back toward the trailers next to the mansion.

“Couldn’t get a kiss before you go?”

Franky’s tone was _meant_ to be cocky and light-hearted, of that Bridget had no doubt, but instead the older woman heard a trace of uncertainty, and it was that small indicator that kept her feet planted to the ground instead of issuing a kind but dismissive farewell. 

Franky was afraid of being rejected, and it broke Bridget’s heart.

She made up her mind in that instant, issuing the brunette (who still kept afloat in the centre of the pool) an encouraging smile. She might lose her job if anyone saw, but she would lose it any day if it meant not disappointing Franky.

“You’d have to come to _me,_ Franky.”

She saw Franky exhale in relief, and heard the quiet chuckle as the younger woman’s confidence quickly returned.

“Mmmm, I think I can live with that.”

With one swift movement, Franky propelled herself toward the side of the pool and clambered out of it, water cascading from her body as she stood upright. Bridget watched as she debated collecting the towel and drying herself first, before deciding against it and moving over to Bridget.

Franky’s hands reached out, gripping her waist, and pushing her gently back toward the pillar where she had previously lurked. As Bridget felt her back hit the stone, she let out a quiet gasp, and Franky took the opportunity to press her still soaked body against her. She moved her lips to Bridget’s ear.

“So no-one sees us, Gidge.”

Bridget moaned as Franky’s teeth gently nipped at her earlobe, before ghosting over her jaw. Bridget ached all over, her arms rising up on their own accord and grasping the bare skin of Franky’s back.

“Fuck,” Franky breathed, her lips now pressed against Bridget’s. Bridget closed her eyes as she felt their lips once again connect. She felt Franky’s tongue seek entrance and she opened her mouth in kind as their sighs of encouragement and appreciation echoed around the pool. Franky’s hands moved from her waist down to her hips and pulled her more firmly against her, Bridget feeling her clothes soak up the water from Franky’s body. Bridget’s hands in turn travelled up her back, wrapping around Franky’s neck as she tilted her head and drew Franky in more.

Eventually they parted, both breathing heavily, and Bridget hummed in approval as she dropped her head back against the pillar. She opened her eyes and lazily tracked the contours of Franky’s face as the tattooed brunette struggled for breath, her smile wide.

“Was that what you had in mind for a kiss?” Bridget sighed, her arms unwinding from Franky’s neck.

“Mmm, better than what I had in mind,” Franky admitted, her hands once more resting on the older woman’s waist.

Bridget moved forward quickly and pecked her on the lips once more.

“Just a few more weeks, hang in there baby.”

Franky smiled in response, nuzzling her nose in Bridget’s neck.

_Soon._

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, kudos, enjoy!
> 
> If anyone has suggestions of what they want to read regarding this AU (e.g. their first meeting, Franky's Hot Seat interviews, other contestants) let me know in the comments, happy to take on prompts :)


End file.
